The new transport-themed issue of Surface includes an interview with me by editor-in-chief Dan Rubenstein, who found himself stranded in Milan the Icelandic volcano shut down European airspace in April. “I finally arrived home four days later,” he writes in his editor’s letter, “but the ordeal made me realize the fragility of modern life, especially when it comes to transportation and what to include in this first-ever Transport Issue. Capacity, flexibility, convenience: All these issues today are crucial.” Indeed. Below is the interview. His questions are in bold; my responses follow.

The world is bracing for an influx of billions of new urbanites in the coming decades, and tech companies are rushing to build new green cities to house them. Are these companies creating a smarter metropolis — or just making money?

In Up in the Air, George Clooney revels in Airworld, a ten-million-mile flier’s paradise of airports, lounges, and jet-iquette. Who lives like this? Meet the FlyerTalkers, the world’s greatest passengers, who stockpile miles for currency, who make their cause the dignity of the frequent flier. Greg Lindsay joins them on a mad marathon of gate-hopping, champagne-quaffing stratospheric ecstasy.